1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a versatile, ergonomic push stick capable of securely engaging and advancing a work piece over or through wood working equipment.
2. Description of the Related Art
In wood working operations involving equipment such as table saws, routers, planars, jointers and the like, a push stick is typically used to advance the work piece through the equipment, past the cutting tool, to prevent accidental injuries to the fingers and hands. A push stick also helps to control the work piece, to maintain dimensional tolerances. A typical push stick is simply a notched stick that is engaged with the rear edge of the work piece and used to push the work piece through the wood working equipment.
An example of such a conventional push stick is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,001,903. This design provides more protection and control than no push stick at all, but it provides only limited contact with the work piece and may be awkward to grasp. As a result, the wood piece may buck off the work surface of the wood working machine, the push stick may slip or disengage from the work piece, and/or the operator may lose his grip of the handle.
To address the deficiencies of this conventional push stick design, others have devised push sticks that provide a larger interface between the tool and the surface of the wood. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,348,925, discloses a push stick with an arched handle and an elongated main body portion to press against the working surface of the work piece. While this push stick may provide a greater contact area with the work piece, it is still lacking in other respects. For example, the arched handle is low and close to the main body, which keeps the operator's hands close to the main body of the pusher device and thus close to the work piece. Moreover, because the groove or notch for engaging the work piece is at the rear of the pusher whereas the handle is secured towards the front, the user's hand may closely approach the cutting tool, particularly when machining small work pieces.
Another pusher device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,509. The main body of this device is also adapted to rest on the top surface of a work piece to press the work piece against the work surface, thereby maintaining the piece under control as it is pushed past/through the cutting tool of the wood working machine. A straight edged, inclined handle projects from the rear of the unit. This particular pusher device also provides, in combination with the pusher feature, a tool for performing several measuring operations. While the higher handle of this tool keeps the operator's hand above and away from the cutting tool, the straight edged grip does not allow for firm comfortable gripping of the handle. Moreover, the hand opening is provided at a predefined location and elevation. Thus, the pusher device cannot be freely gripped at the position most comfortable for the operator's wrist.
Thus, while the U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,509 design is more stable than the conventional push stick, it has limited versatility. There is a longer handle to grip the pusher device, but only one way to grip the handle. Additionally, because of the variety of measurement components provided, the tool is rather bulky and may preclude a close approach to the cutting blade when working with small work pieces.